ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of whether it makes sense career-wise for politicians to devote their time to criminal justice policy and politics. We draw on material from interviews with members of the national parliaments, the Bundestag and the Assemblée Nationale, as well as on an analysis of biographies of the German chancellors, French Prime Ministers, and French and German Ministers of Justice and of the Interior since 1949 in Germany and 1958 in France. The analysis shows that politicians may benefit from focusing on law-and-order issues, but that this is far from being a sure winning ticket.
